CIC PRACTICE EXAM 2026
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE
CORRECT RESPONSES
Medical intervention factors that affect risk of infection indwelling devices, staffing ratio,
lengths of stay, duration of invasive procedures, medications, # of exams by providers, type of
institution, and knowledge/experience of providers
environmental intervention factors that affect risk of infection disinfectant type used,
contact with animals, hand hygiene
anatomical/phys factors that affect risk of infection preexisting diseases, trauma, malignancies,
age, gender, and nutritional status
DMAIC D=define customers, project boundaries, and processes
M=measure performance
, A=analyze data to identify causes of variation, gaps in performance, and prioritize actions
I=improve the process
C=control the process to prevent reverting
What should an effective surveillance program be able to provide? Detection of infections and
injuries, identify trends, identify risk factors associated with infections and other AEs detect
outbreaks and clusters, assess the overall effectiveness of the infection control and prevention
program and demonstrate changes in proactive and processes that lead to better outcomes
Define point prevalence number of persons ill on the date divided by the population on that
date.
Define attack rate Number of people at risk in whom a certain illness develops / (divided by)
/ Total number of people at risk
Define prevalence fraction of a population having a specific disease at a given time
Define incidence number of new cases of a disease divided by the number of persons at risk
for the disease.
Type of specimen for C. diff liquid stool is required
When to suspect C. diff infection? when 3 or more unformed/watery stool in 24 hrs occurs
Relative Risk (RR) Used in cohort studies to determine how strongly a risk factor is associated
with an outcome.
1 is the null= no significance of the association between exposure and adverse event
P(X infection or exposed)/P(Y infection or unexposed) = RR
Details of control chart central line = the ave of data pts
x axis = time
y axis = rate/count
may be upper control/lower control limit lines and +/- 3 SD lines
Directly observed therapy (DOT) requires that a health care provider directly observe the
patient swallowing the pills, whether it is in the hospital, office, or home care setting
the best method for TB regimen, intermittent therapy, MDRO, high risk for noncompliance (drug
abusers/homeless)
Hill's Criteria of Causality 1) strength of association- relationship between casual factor and
disease outcome
2) consistency of finding- associations are repeated
3) specificity of association- very specific cause
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE
CORRECT RESPONSES
Medical intervention factors that affect risk of infection indwelling devices, staffing ratio,
lengths of stay, duration of invasive procedures, medications, # of exams by providers, type of
institution, and knowledge/experience of providers
environmental intervention factors that affect risk of infection disinfectant type used,
contact with animals, hand hygiene
anatomical/phys factors that affect risk of infection preexisting diseases, trauma, malignancies,
age, gender, and nutritional status
DMAIC D=define customers, project boundaries, and processes
M=measure performance
, A=analyze data to identify causes of variation, gaps in performance, and prioritize actions
I=improve the process
C=control the process to prevent reverting
What should an effective surveillance program be able to provide? Detection of infections and
injuries, identify trends, identify risk factors associated with infections and other AEs detect
outbreaks and clusters, assess the overall effectiveness of the infection control and prevention
program and demonstrate changes in proactive and processes that lead to better outcomes
Define point prevalence number of persons ill on the date divided by the population on that
date.
Define attack rate Number of people at risk in whom a certain illness develops / (divided by)
/ Total number of people at risk
Define prevalence fraction of a population having a specific disease at a given time
Define incidence number of new cases of a disease divided by the number of persons at risk
for the disease.
Type of specimen for C. diff liquid stool is required
When to suspect C. diff infection? when 3 or more unformed/watery stool in 24 hrs occurs
Relative Risk (RR) Used in cohort studies to determine how strongly a risk factor is associated
with an outcome.
1 is the null= no significance of the association between exposure and adverse event
P(X infection or exposed)/P(Y infection or unexposed) = RR
Details of control chart central line = the ave of data pts
x axis = time
y axis = rate/count
may be upper control/lower control limit lines and +/- 3 SD lines
Directly observed therapy (DOT) requires that a health care provider directly observe the
patient swallowing the pills, whether it is in the hospital, office, or home care setting
the best method for TB regimen, intermittent therapy, MDRO, high risk for noncompliance (drug
abusers/homeless)
Hill's Criteria of Causality 1) strength of association- relationship between casual factor and
disease outcome
2) consistency of finding- associations are repeated
3) specificity of association- very specific cause
